"Teaching PSHE should be about making sure children and young people have the skills they need to grow up as healthy individuals who can make informed decisions about their lives." Anna Longfield
Curriculum Intent
At Ladbrooke school, we want our children to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy, safe and able to form and maintain positive relationships with others. Our aim is that our children develop an understanding of the ever-changing world in which they live, develop the skills necessary to take an active role in their community and manage their lives effectively. We aim to encourage mutual respect, resilience, pride and independence in a caring and supportive atmosphere. We want our children to feel secure in themselves and know when to ask for help, either for themselves or someone close to them.
By teaching pupils to stay safe and healthy, and by building self-esteem, resilience and empathy, an effective PSHE programme can tackle barriers to learning, raise aspirations, and improve the life chances of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils. There is evidence to show that PSHE education can address teenage pregnancy, substance misuse, unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity, and emotional health. The skills and attributes developed through PSHE education are also shown to increase academic attainment and attendance rates, particularly among pupils eligible for free school meals, as well as improve employability and boost social mobility.
Implementation
Our PSHE curriculum has been built with our children in mind. As a school we have taken the objectives for this subject and created a spiral curriculum which builds on each requirement at a level best suited to the age it’s being taught to. PSHE is taught through both discreet teaching sessions and also through our cross curricular topics.
Each half term we focus on one topic across the school. Each topic (shown below) is launched with an assembly and then lessons are delivered through a 30 minute session per week taught by the class teacher.
- Families and people who care for me.
- Caring friendships.
- Respectful relationships.
- Online Relationships.
- Being Safe.
- Mental Wellbeing.
The remainder of the topics are taught through our creative curriculum which provides excellent opportunities to set those topics within a context which would enhance their understanding on how this could impact their everyday life.
Our cross curricular curriculum themes are:
- Internet safety and harms.
- Physical health and fitness.
- Healthy eating.
- Drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
- Health and prevention.
- Basic first aid.
- Changing adolescent body.
The skills promoted through PSHE are:
Repect | Resilience | Pride | Independence |
Empathy | Responsibility | Listening Skills | Communication |
Trust | Reflection | Growth Mind Set | Collaboration |
Alongside our PSHE curriculum, other programmes are offered to support children’s wellbeing. These include, WELCOM, Protective behaviours, Bright Stars, Zones of Regulation
Sex and Relationship Education
The Sex and Relationship Policy is delivered through the PSHCE curriculum, assemblies and the science curriculum. In order to ensure it is delivered successfully a number of strategies are used: circle time, use of outside agencies, specialist resources and discussions. We follow The Christopher Winter Project – teaching SRE with confidence in Primary Schools recommended by Hertfordshire County Council.
Impact
The childrens' thoughts and discussions are shared through class books. These books show the key discussion points and thoughts of the children. Before each topic, children are asked to share their thoughts and these are gathered at the end to show how the children have progressed through the unit. As a result of our curiculum we hope that all children leave Ladbrooke with a positive sense of self, an ability to work with others in a positive and constructive manner and go on to lead happy and successful lives.